This file is provided for reference purposes only. It was current when it was produced, but it is no longer maintained and may now be out of date. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing information may contact us for assistance. For reliable, current information on this and other health topics, we recommend consulting the NIH Clinical Center at http://www.cc.nih.gov/.

Guest house opening

Kathy Montgomery, associate CC director for nursing, and Dr. John Gallin,
CC director, shared ribbon-cutting honors for the new NIH Guest House Sept.
27. The ceremony officially opened the doors for a pilot project to provide
overnight accommodations for CC patients and their families. Tours of the
six efficiencies and one, one-bedroom apartment in Building 20 followed.
The October issue also includes news on the budget and the Clinical Center
Board of Governors.

CC board to convene here on Oct. 21

The Clinical Center's new 17-member Board of Governors is expected to convene
for the first time here on Oct. 21.

Appointed by HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, the board will advise the NIH
and CC directors on aspects of Clinical Center operations and management,
including budget and strategic plans.

Changing how the CC is governed topped the list of recommendations contained
in a report to Shalala earlier this year. An Options Team she put together
had spent most of 1995 scrutinizing the CC's structure and organization
as part of Vice President Gore's Reinventing Government II initiative.

A collection of NIH committees and groups has historically governed the
CC.
The new board will include eight members from NIH and nine from outside
the organization.

EEO pilot begins at CC

The Clinical Center is among the first groups at NIH to test a new system
for handling the initial stages of equal-opportunity complaints.

That means faster investigations of allegations, improved and streamlined
communications, and the chance for quicker resolution for CC employees who
feel that they have been discriminated against or sexually harassed.

Joining the CC in the pilot, which began Sept. 15, are the NIH Office of
the Director, the Office of Research Resources, and NCI.

There is an informal and a formal process for dealing with allegations of
discrimination and harassment, explains Carl Lucas, chief of the CC Office
of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).

It's the informal, or pre-complaint, phase that the Clinical Center and
other pilot participants will handle.

During the informal stage, he says, EEO counselors investigate specific
allegations and talk with everyone involved. Most problems, Lucas points
out, are settled in this phase.

If not, the person with the complaint can move into the formal phase of
the process, which is handled by the NIH Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO),
for resolution.

"We have more of a vested interest in taking care of our own, to quickly
settle disputes," Lucas says. "This new approach also gives us
more of an opportunity to become involved before a situation evolves into
a formal complaint."

Conflict resolution-the earlier in the process the better--is crucial.
"Most
of the time, complaints arise from a breakdown in communications. We in
EEO don't take sides, and we serve all employees, managers and staff. NIH
developed this pilot project to give the ICDs more flexibility in doing
business," he added.

In the past, employees with a complaint would take it directly to the NIH
Office of Equal Opportunity's complaints management and adjudication branch.
An NIH EEO counselor would, in the informal phase of the process, investigate
and prepare a report for NIH OEO review in the formal phase.

"Historically, we at the Clinical Center would help the assigned counselor
conduct the investigation and handle paperwork," he said.

In preparation for their new roles, three staff EEO specialists and seven
counselors recruited from throughout the Clinical Center have had special
training in how to mediate conflict and formally lodge complaints found
to be legitimate. The NIH OEO staff will work with the CC counselors on
the initial cases. (by Sara Byars)

Clinical research issues before Congress

by Dr. John I. Gallin, CC Director

It's an exciting time for clinical research and we at the Clinical Center
have an enormous stake in several issues before Congress this fall.

The Office of Management and Budget has said that it expects that the Clinical
Center will generate some $18 million by collecting health-insurance payments
for the routine care of patients in clinical trials here in FY97.

Appropriations bills passed by the House of Representatives on July 12 and
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Sept. 12 authorize NIH to collect
this money and credit it to the NIH Management Fund. The Clinical Center
does not receive a separate budget. Our budget comes from the institutes
through this management fund.

Tapping this pool of health-care dollars isn't a new--or particularly
simple-idea.
In order for it to work effectively, we must:

Establish a new cost-accounting system to track patient-care costs.

Craft a method for charging that doesn't impose an enormous amount of
paperwork on either the referring physicians, the researchers, or the patients.

Make sure that uninsured patients are not put at a disadvantage for
acceptance into protocols.

Another bill before Congress reinforces the importance of clinical research
to American's health. The Clinical Research Enhancement Act of 1996, which
has become a part of the NIH Revitalization Act of 1996, acknowledges that
clinical research is crucial to expanding scientific knowledge and developing
new and better ways to treat disease. If passed, this bill would allow NIH
to establish an intramural clinical research fellowship program and a
continuing
education clinical research training program.

Finally, both the House and the Senate agree on the need to continue to
fund construction of the new Clinical Research Center. Bills now before
Congress earmark about $90 million for the new facility in FY97.

While we had hoped that Congress would approve the plan to fund the entire
$310 million project in FY97, as outlined in President Clinton's budget
request earlier this year, Congressional support for the new center is clear.

Naming the new Clinical Research Center for Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Oregon)
was included as an amendment to the Senate appropriations bill awaiting
a final vote as this issue of CCNews goes to press, and it's anticipated
that it will be included in the final funding bill.

Sen. Hatfield has long been a proponent of biomedical and clinical research.
Under his chairmanship of the Senate appropriations committee, funding for
NIH has increased by more than $2.5 billion. Last year he led Congress in
maintaining overwhelming support for biomedical research by offering an
amendment to the budget resolution that spared NIH from a 10 percent cut
in funding.

All of this is good news for clinical research in general and the Clinical
Center in particular.

Observance spotlights "Ability for hire"

Celebrating October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month offers
an opportunity to look at how the CC Disability Employment Program benefits
employees with and without disabilities. The CC Office of Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) develops and manages the program. Its primary mission
is to advance the employment of persons with disabilities.

Theme for this year's observance is "Ability for Hire." Persons
with disabilities work on Main Street and on Wall Street. They are trained
accountants, bricklayers, scientists, chefs, dishwashers, radio announcers--the
list goes on. Their skills and talents are needed and their abilities are
for hire. Improved accessibility and acceptance has resulted in more job
opportunities for persons with disabilities.

In the CC EEO office, Jerry Garmany coordinates the Disability Employment
Program, which ensures reasonable accommodations, often making it possible
for a qualified person with a disability to do the same job as anyone else,
but in a slightly different way. Some accommodations are simple adaptations.
Others require technically sophisticated equipment.

The EEO office also coordinates requests for sign-language interpretation
for deaf applicants, employees, and patients, and provides Teletypewriter
(TTY) devices to deaf or hard-of-hearing employees.

For program details, contact Garmany at 496-9100 (TTY), through the Maryland
Relay Service on 1-800-735-2258, or e-mail him, jgarmany@pop.cc.nih.gov
(by Jerry Garmany)

A caring
canine

Wearing a flowered lei and basking in the affection of co-workers, Samantha,
a German shepherd, was honored with a reception commemorating her retirement
last month as a Caring Canine. Joining Samantha was her owner, Jane
Bartholomew.
Samantha is one of the original Caring Canines of the National Capital Therapy
Dogs, Inc. She and her colleagues are volunteers--as are their owners--who
visit with patients at the Clinical Center and other hospitals.

briefs:

Pumpkin Chase ready to take off

The 5th annual Great Pumpkin Chase set for Sunday, Oct. 27, will benefit
the Friends of the Clinical Center (FOCC). The 5K run and one-mile walk
will be sponsored by the NIH Federal Credit Union and radio station WKYS.
Individuals and teams can sign up for the races.

There'll be t-shirts for participants, prizes in several categories, and
refreshments. For more information on the Pumpkin Chase, call Wendy Ladas
at 230-4817. To sign up as an FOCC volunteer to help with the event, call
Pat Turner at 496-9271.

Getting up to Speak, Nov. 21, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., first floor conference
room, 6100 Executive Blvd. This class helps participants develop the basic
skills needed to deliver an organized presentation to a single individual
or a large group. It also offers tips on using visual aids and managing
stage fright.

These classes are sponsored by the education and training section of the
Office of Human Resources Management.

String concert series returns

The Manchester String Quartet Series returns for its eighth season on Oct.
21. The concert series is presented 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Masur Auditorium.
Concerts are also set for Nov. 4, Dec. 9, Jan. 13, Feb. 10, March 3, April
7, and May 19. Call Sharon Greenwell at 496-4713 for more information.

Learn about difficult people

The NIH Employee Assistance Program's video workshop series opens Oct. 15
with "How to Deal with Difficult People." Program counselors will
lead a group discussion following the video.

The series--Tuesdays at the Little Theater-is free, open to all employees,
and requires no reservations. Just drop by the Little Theater, which is
in the Visitor Information Center, at noon. Sessions run an hour. Other
programs will be offered Oct. 22, and Nov. 5, 12, and 19.

RNA symposium set this month

The NIH RNA Club will host the Mid-Atlantic Regional RNA Symposium on Oct.
22. Sessions will begin in the Natcher Conference Center at 9 a.m. Tom
Blumenthal
of Indiana University will present the keynote address, "Operons in
the Nematode Genome." Platform talks will focus on RNA metabolism and
RNA-protein interactions. For registration details, access the symposium
web site,
http://www.nci.nih.gov/intra/LTVB/symp.htm.

Town meeting set

Dr. John Gallin, CC director, will convene a town meeting for CC employees
Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. in Masur Auditorium. Among the topics on the agenda is
a report on the first meeting of the Clinical Center Board of Governors,
which is set for Oct. 21. Dr. Gallin will also discuss the CC strategic
plan and ongoing Clinical Center initiatives.

Cafeteria closing

The 2nd floor cafeteria is slated to close Oct. 19, according to DES space
management officials, so that the CC Nutrition Department can use the kitchen
while their own is undergoing ceiling repairs. GSI is expected to increase
staffing in the B1 cafeteria. The repair project is expected to take several
months.
Other changes during the relocation:

B1 cafeteria hours on the weekend will be 6 a.m.-1 p.m.;

The cafeteria will close at 11 p.m. Monday-Friday; and

Sandwiches, salads, juice, and water will be available at the coffee
cart in the lobby and the area will be open until 5 p.m.

These operations will continue during October while a rehab will add new
tables, chairs, benches, and a bar. That project, says DES, should be
complete by early
next month.

Leave scheduling updates announced

Effective Oct. 1, employees will no longer be required to use their accrued
annual leave during the leave year prior to using any restored leave previously
credited. Restored leave and regular annual leave may be used in any order
the employee wishes.

According to HHS, this includes any leave restored to employees as result
of the furlough, which employees have until January 1999 to use.

And speaking of leave, employees with use-or-lose leave have until Nov.
23 to schedule a time to take it.

Receipts help CC school

Your Giant and Safeway grocery receipts added up to a new television for
the Clinical Center school last year. The school participates in the local
equipment-for-receipts exchange program, which has meant books, computer
software, and supplies for the school-away-from-home for CC patients.

Located on the 10th floor, the school is classroom to more than 300 students
each year. If you'd like to help enhance the program, drop off the receipts
or send them to room 10S235.

Worksite health program offers exam

Need a mammogram? George Washington University's Breast Care Center and
the NIH Worksite Health Promotion Program will make it easy to arrange.

The center's mammography van will be in the parking lot behind EPS and EPN
on Executive Blvd. Oct. 30; on Convent Drive near the CC on Oct. 31; and
at Natcher on Nov. 6. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

The mammography costs $75. The mobile program is accredited by the American
College of Radiology. To schedule an appointment, call (202) 994-9999. Call
Susanne Strickland at 496-1105 if you have general comments or suggestions
about the worksite mammography program or other initiatives offered by the
Worksite Health Promotion Plan.

Campaign begins

The annual Combined Federal Campaign kicked off this month and Clinical
Center key workers will be sharing information about the program with
co-workers
throughout the next few months. Theme for this year's campaign, led at the
Clinical Center by Walter Jones, CC deputy director for management and
operations,
is "Help Hope Take Shape."
Warren Moyer (pictured left), CC management analyst and a campaign
coordinator, talked with Monica Restrepo, Nursing Department, and Mary
Vailati, Clinical Pathology Department, during a recent meeting for
departmental key workers. With them is Dan Carney, a campaign executive on
loan from the Treasury Department. Carney led some of the training
sessions.

Pam Brye, Melissa Zafonte, and Rosemary Parisi
(from left), CC Nutrition Department, were tapped
to help provide food inspections during the Olympics in Atlanta. They
joined a cadre of federal, state, and local sanitarians to make sure the
foods available at various venues were safe, a critical public-health
mission during the games. They were among recipients of the Hammer Award
given last month by the National Performance Review Agency.

Ann McNemar (pictured right), a nurse on 9 West, had a behind-the-scenes,
front-row seat to the
Olympic Games as a scorer for the equestrian events.

Staffers experience Atlanta's Summer Games

While the world waited for Atlanta's summer games to begin, three Clinical
Center dietitians were mobilizing to answer a call for help from Olympic
organizers.

Pam Brye, manager of patient services for the CC Nutrition Department and
PHS chief dietitian, received the call. The Public Health Service was needed
to help with food inspections provided by the Fulton, Ga., health department.

That was Saturday morning. By Tuesday, Brye was in Atlanta, along with CC
research dietitians Melissa Zafonte and Rosemary Parisi. They joined a cadre
of federal sanitarians, dietitians-and one veterinarian--from ten states.

Hundreds of vendors were licensed to sell meals and snacks on the streets
of Atlanta. Olympicplanners had underestimated the number of
sanitarians
needed to make sure that the food was safe. Huge crowds and hot temperatures
made that monitoring crucial. "There was great potential for food-borne
outbreaks of illness," pointed out Brye, who staffed the food inspection
command post.

Zafonte and Parisi joined teams that worked two shifts a day performing
the inspections. "The team members made sure that foods were kept at
the correct temperature, that handwashing and toilet facilities were available,
and that the vendors had the proper permits," Brye explained.

"The teams were responsible for specific areas. My team covered the
area around Centennial Park," said Zafonte. "The vendors in this
area had proper permits, but we had the authority to shut down anyone not
in compliance."

SWAT teams were called in when a food vendor was ordered to shut down and
didn't.

"The streets had a carnival atmosphere," noted Parisi. "When
people bought food from a street vendor, there was nowhere to sit, except
on the curb. But the city needed the vendors during the Games--the permits
meant income for the city."

"When a vendor applied for a permit, there was no way to know if they
had had training in food handling," Brye added.

"Many of those vendors had invested thousands of dollars and were making
only hundreds," said Zafonte. "People weren't buying."

That made the inspectors easy targets for the vendors' frustrations.

"They saw us often and they sometimes vented their frustration on us.
But they also understood that we had a lot of people to protect," Zafonte
explained.

The teams performed about 3,400 inspections during their 10 days in Atlanta.
They responded to 49 complaints and mounted six food-borne illness
investigations.
More than 20,000 pounds of food had to be discarded as result of their
inspections,
including nearly 11,000 pounds of quiche.

"This was the first time that dietitians have been called to participate
in an emergency effort," said Brye.

"The experience put a new perspective on our profession's role in the
PHS," Zafonte said. "We, too, are public servants."

***

She was afraid of horses and climbed up on one only because she was too
embarrassed to tell the riding instructor she hadn't come for lessons. "I
had tagged along with a group of friends who wanted to learn to ride. The
teacher assumed I did, too," explains Ann McNemar, laughing.

And for the reluctant student, riding became a life-long love and her ticket
to an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at Olympic competition. McNemar,
a nurse on 9 West, was tapped as a scoring assistant for the equestrian
competition during the Summer Games in Atlanta.

When the call for applications for volunteers appeared in an equestrian
magazine three years ago, friends encouraged her to apply. She was one of
about 20 accepted.

"In many ways, scoring at the Olympics was easy," admits the veteran
scorer for local events. "There's a lot more technical support."
Timing information, penalties at cross-country fences, and movement scores
during the dressage events were entered into timing equipment linked to
computers, which reformatted the data for television and the commentators,
and printed the results.

Everything was also recorded by hand so that manual and electronic scores
could be compared before the final results were published. During grand
prix jumping, McNemar oversaw the manual scoring master sheet. On endurance
days, she was one of two scorers for the steeple chase events. For dressage
events--competitions in which the horses move through a series of specific
movements--she served as a computer scribe. "I fed the scores directly
into the computer," she says. "I was very nervous about doing
it right. Once the whole screen disappeared! I certainly have a better
appreciation
as to what goes on behind the scenes."

The weather and security concerns topped the agenda of behind-the-scenes
worries for Olympic participants. "Having the games in Atlanta spurred
a world-wide research effort on horse and heat-related issues," McNemar
says. "A good bit of data was developed."

Because of the South's sultry summer weather, the cross-country course was
shortened, rest stops added, and mist machines installed. "Competitions
started early and ran late, with breaks during the middle of the day. Weather
sensors and temperature monitors were in place and the competitions would
have been stopped if necessary."

Heightened security meant thorough inspections of vehicles and individuals
coming in for the competitions. "I kept hearing people talk about
sanitizing
things. I thought they were talking about ticks on the horses, but it turned
out to be for bombs."

McNemar's involvement in international competitions didn't end with last
summer's Olympics. She'll be involved in next year's North American dressage
event and plans to attend the world equestrian championship in Ireland in
1998.

She and her horse Avenue may participate in some local games as well. "I
don't love jumping that much because I'm becoming breakable," she says
with a laugh. "Avenue knows more than I do and I'm learning from her.
We'll compete once we both figure it all out." (-by Sara
Byars)

Foil the flu

Flu shots -- autumn's rite of passage

For more than a decade, the Occupational Medical Service (OMS) has offered
free influenza immunizations to NIH employees. Knowing how important it
was to be protected from this virus, more than 5,000 NIH employees got
vaccinated
by OMS last year. Do you need a flu shot this year?

Last year, five patients being treated at the CC were later diagnosed with
the flu. During the course of caring for them, 90 health-care workers and
support staff were exposed to the virus. Twenty-five hadn't been vaccinated
and went to OMS for evaluation; at least six developed the flu.

That's why an annual flu shot is important. If many hospital workers become
incapacitated, patient care could suffer.

You can't predict where you will be exposed to influenza, whether at home,
in your community, or at work. Because you work in a hospital, disease
prevention
experts recommend that you get an annual flu shot. By doing this, you can
help prevent this highly contagious virus from spreading among high-risk
persons such as the elderly and those with underlying health problems.

If you received a vaccination in the past, you still need to be vaccinated
because influenza viruses change every year. The vaccine is made of safe,
inactive particles that cannot cause influenza.

To make it convenient for patient-care employees in building 10, OMS will
administer shots for these workers on various nursing units from 6:30-11:30
a.m. and 4-6 p.m. on Oct. 7, 9, and 11. Watch for posters in clinics and
patient-care units for times and places.